Children of the Deathbringers
by Sleeping-force's-inside
Summary: Sequel to 'Love by Night! The Twins of War and Death have returned to Olympus, but will trouble follow in their wake? Completed! R & E & R
1. Chapter 1

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 1**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Leander was a man who should have little problems being happy: he had a beautiful wife and while he was no King, he had money to spare. Despite his riches he was humble, and regularly brought sacrifices to the nearby temples. Once in every two years he would travel to the great city of Athens to bring sacrifices to the great temples there. And his loyalty to the gods had been repaid generously: he had 3 healthy sons, and a fourth child was on the way. Leander, lion-man as his parents had called him when seeing his hair as he grew up, it being thick and golden as the manes of a lion, had little reason for grief and he knew better than to petition the gods for more than they had already given him.

But he desired a daughter, so that she may keep her mother company when he was away on business. A little girl, beautiful and sweet, that would behold him in adoration. And so did his wife.

Rhoda herself had been the oldest child of a merchant and had been his only daughter. She had missed the bond that came between sisters, her brothers having to grow up quickly to ensure her father had a proper heir should he pass away. At first her father had intended to send her to the great temple of Athena Thanateia – it had once been the Parthenon, before the mighty goddess had lost her virginity and thus her title of Parthenos, the Virgin, and she had turned it into a temple for both herself and her husband Thanatos, the God of Death – but an elder priestess had turned her down, saying she would serve the goddess better if she wed.

That night, his sleep was restless. He was walking up to the temple of Athena on the Acropolis to offer his sacrifices when the statue started to move! The ivory woman reached down, snatching him up. He was frozen in fear as he looked into eyes the color of polished steel.

"Always you have honored me." Her voice was deeper than that of any woman he had ever heard, but not unpleasant. "I have heard your plea. Once you wake, travel to the outskirts of your village, do not hesitate or delay. There, under the olive-tree, you shall find a basket with two girls. Raise them, and treat them as if they were your own. But give them to no man or god as wives, let them not become servants or priestesses. I rejected your wife, but in exchange I want those girls once they are old enough. Once they have reached marriageable age, send them to this temple."

She put him down again, but before he could wake the sky above him turned black. Crows appeared from everywhere, closing in on him with glowing eyes. They screeched in terrible voices and for a moment it seemed as if something much bigger flew with them.

"Do not disobey me, Leander, for you will not live long enough to regret it."

Leander shot up, panting in cold sweat as the voice of the goddess echoed in his skull. Rhoda woke too, and tried to sooth him. He quickly explained what he had dreamed off and she, in her wisdom, agreed it was best to hurry to do the goddess' biding.

He called for his slaves and hurried to the olive-tree at the outskirts of the village. There, as the goddess had told him, was a basket. He carefully lifted the lid as one of the slaves held the torch above his head and peeked inside. Two babies softly fuzzed as the cold night-air entered their warm nest. They were identical, he could tell as much: a soft tuft of black hair already covered their heads. They were warmly wrapped in cloth so finely woven it truly had to have been god-made and he saw silver necklaces resting around their necks.

"Oh my!" Rhoda exclaimed as he carried the basket into the house. "Oh, look at them!"

"I know." He put the basket on the table and carefully lifted one of the children out of it. "They are perfect."

"What is that around their necks, father?" His sons had woken in the commotion, and his oldest had spoken first.

"Necklaces, I believe." Rhoda had picked up the other girl and was carefully pulling the fabric down from around her. "Here, take the one of this girl."

Her oldest obeyed. "Look." He gasped and lifted the smooth silver into the light: a thin band of silver, big enough to fit around an adult woman's neck, held a finely crafted owl. "An owl, the sacred bird of Athena herself."

"It is only fitting." Leander looked from the necklace to the girl he held. "It was she who gave us this gift."

"There is something written on it." The youngest boy softly said, clutching the tunic of his older brother with one hand and pointing up at the necklace with the other. "On the backside."

"It's a name." Leander's firstborn waved the slave with a torch closer and squinted. "It says 'Eirene'."

"Peace?" Rhoda softly said. "What does the necklace of the other one say?"

A slave carefully removed the identical silver band and handed it to his master with a bow.

"It says 'Andronicia'. Isn't that the female form of Andronicus meaning 'Conqueror of Men'?"

"It is." Leander looked at the sleeping infant in his arms. "But if it is the will of the gods, then so be it. I'd rather butt heads with mortals than with the Great Olympians. Eirene and Andronicia they shall be named, as was surely Athena's intention when giving them those necklaces. Put them away in our vault, and come dawn, go to the weaver down the road to buy cloth for our daughters' clothes." He said the last bit to the foreman, who was in charge of the other slaves.

None of them saw the two birds sitting on the tree outside, looking into the house. One was a deep-brown owl, her silver eyes shining in the light of the moon. Next to her sat a crow, whose black feathers seemed to absorb what light fell on him and only his eyes revealed he was not merely a shadow. They too shone in the light and were like polished steel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 2**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The next fourteen years passed quickly, running along like a river to the sea: swift and without much hinder. Leander raised the two girls as if they had been born to him, rather than found under a tree. They grew up to be beautiful: their black hair gave them an exotic air and their silver eyes seemed to pierce a man to his soul. At the age of five, when girls were normally betrothed, many men came to the small village to talk about dowries. Leander gave them all the same answer: "They were given to us by Athena, and she demands they return to her at the age of fourteen. If you want them, compete with her."

One had taken it literally, threatening the golden-haired father with simply taking the girls he did not want to give. In a matter of minutes, half a dozen owls had attacked and killed the man. The message had been clear: Athena laid claim to the girls, and would not relinquish them to anyone.

Afterwards Rhoda focused the studies of her daughters on weaving and the crafts. A priestess did not need to know how to lead a household.

Eirene and Andronicia might look alike, but their personalities could not have been more different: Eirene was sensitive and meek, while still having a firm stance in her opinions and Andronicia might as well have been a boy rather than a girl since she was boyish and unyielding. Both were skilled in weaving, but Andronicia's at times fiery temperament kept her from becoming more than average in the other crafts. She lacked the patience for them.

At the age of ten Leander took his daughters to the temple of Athena Thanateia for the first time. They marveled at the greatness of Athens and their small mouths fell open when they saw the great statue of Athena. He could see they were drawn to the temple and so he entered it with them. He had to drag them out at the end of the day, so strong was the desire for them to stay.

At age twelve the last of their brothers wed, leaving the two girls as the only children in the house of their parents. Then Rhoda became pregnant once more.

At age thirteen they became big sisters of a young girl with the golden hair of her father. Shortly thereafter both Rhoda and the girl grew ill and the household feared for their lives. But Thanatos did not come to claim either of them and both overcame the illness.

On the day that had been chosen as their birthday, Leander asked one of their brothers to escort the two girls to Athens. The farewell had been full of tears, Rhoda still being too weak to accompany her daughters to the temple.

At late midday they arrived at the temple, again feeling this desire to never leave the temple. This time they could oblige. An older priestess was waiting for them, taking them from their brother who returned to the house that had once been their home.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"The girls are here, milady." The older woman had led them into the heart of the temple, there were only those with special favor of the goddess were allowed to come. She ushered them through the door she had spoken through.

On the other side was a bath. A woman was bathing while several servants were waiting for her.

"Leave us." She told them, while gesturing for the sisters to come closer.

She rose from the water, turning to face the two.

Eirene fell on her knees. The goddess was beautiful, looking every bit out of this world as she was. Andronicia was close behind. Both cowered on the ground as Athena pulled on a robe.

"Do not fear me." The goddess said, raising their heads to look at her. "You have no need to do so."

She studied them for a while, seemingly mapping their features. "You have become beautiful."

"My lady?" Andronicia asked.

"Long story. Join me: I have not yet eaten today." The goddess rose to her feet again, gesturing to the table in the corner of the room.

"As you command." The two sisters remained looking down as they joined her at the table.

"You surely must wonder what all this means, don't you?" Athena smiled gently.

"Father told us you told him to have us become your priestesses instead of mother." Andronicia softly said.

"My priestesses?" The daughter of Zeus laughed. "No, my dears, not my priestesses."

"But why then?" Eirene whispered.

"Have you never done things beyond mortals? Has your will not been done in ways that should have been impossible? Was not your little sister spared simply because you wanted her to be?" She grew serious. "You are not mortals, my dears, you are gods: powerful Goddesses."

On one hand, that was absurd. On the other, many things now made sense: their ability to learn quickly, their strange resilience against injuries, the wishes that had been granted in ways that should have been impossible. Besides, why should she lie?

"But… if we are goddesses, why was our youth as it was?" Andronicia asked, now looking the goddess in the eyes. "Why were we left there?"

"You were born at the wrong time." Athena explained. "The mortals do not know this, but there has been a rift on Olympus: many of my siblings and of the lesser gods think it an outrage I am wed to Thanatos. They say Death has no place among the immortal Gods of Olympus, least of all at the side of Athena, favorite of Zeus, the goddess who could have whoever she desires."

"What does that have to do with us?" Eirene peeked at the goddess.

"Both Thanatos and I did not wish our daughters to grow up in such an environment. So we send you to earth, the world of the mortals, so that you could have a proper youth: one where you would only know love from your family, and no hate."


	3. Chapter 3

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 3**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"We are your daughters?" Eirene echoed.

"Mine and Thanatos', yes." Athena confirmed. "That is why I want you here, so you can return to me and your father."

"But why did you send us away in the first place?" Andronicia simply didn't understand. "Why couldn't we stay with you on Olympus?"

"It would not have been safe for you." The goddess explained. "As I said, my family is very much against Thanatos having his place at my side. They are downright hostile towards him and neither of us was willing to risk having you exposed to that. You surely have heard quite some myths, you know my family does not care for innocents: Niobe was the one offending Artemis and Apollo, but it were her children that paid for it."

"They would have killed us?" The two girls grabbed each other's hands tightly, their grey eyes widening.

"No, neither I nor your father would have allowed that, but they would have hated you. And that is even worse." Athena reached out, brushing Eirene's cheek.

"So what will happen to us now?" Andronicia asked, looking at the slender hand resting on her sister's cheek.

"You will become my attendants. You will return to Olympus with me. Make friends with the other gods, so that by the time I and Thanatos claim you, you will not be pulled into the hate towards your father." Athena rose from the table without having eating anything. She walked to a chest on the far wall. "That is all we can do."

She pulled some dresses from the chest, laying them out on top of it. "Tell no one that you are my daughters, or Thanatos' for that matter. If anyone asks, tell them you are the daughters of Leander and Rhoda. It won't even be a lie."

They saw how she tensed at those words, how her hand held just a little bit tighter on to the frail fabric. They rose and joined her. She smiled at them, gesturing towards the bath.

"Come, we ought to get you looking like goddesses. Hop in." The water was a bit hot, making Eirene wonder how the goddess had sat comfortably in it when they arrived. Flagrant oils permeated the warm air with their sweet flagrances. Athena kneeled at the side of the bath, combing their long hair, freeing the long tresses from the elaborate braids Rhoda had created.

The sister scrubbed themselves clean, helping each other with washing their hair.

"Lady Athena." Eirene gasped. She had chanced to look up at the woman sitting at the side of the pool. Tears shimmered in the silver depths of the eyes of the Wisdom-goddess and she looked pained as she watched the twins bathe. "What is wrong?"

"You are nearly adults. My first children are nearly adults." She whispered. "Because of my family I only can raise my children when they are adults. I could only watch as someone else was called mother." The older woman turned away.

She wanted to rise, but the two youngsters claimed her hands. "Rhoda raised us, yes, but you are just as important." Andronicia stated, Eirene nodding in agreement. "We were always drawn to you, our minds did not know who you are, but our hearts did. We called her mother, but you are our mother too."

A serene smile came to the face of the goddess as she looked into the eyes of the two younger ones.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Why are the backs so low?" Andronicia looked over her shoulder at the back of the dress she was wearing. The depth was almost improper, the fabric resting on the small of her back. The same could be said of the dress of her sister.

Athena smiled while arranging the folds in the red fabric of Eirene's dress. "Believe me, it has to be like that."

"I thought we were goddesses, not courtesans." Eirene looked over her shoulder at their mother.

"Your father is Thanatos. What is his most prominent feature?" Athena seemed pleased with how the dress fell and moved to the other girl.

"Uh…. His wings?" Andronicia guessed.

"Exactly. Now, as his daughters, what do you think you'd inherit?" Athena chuckled at their shocked faces.

"We have wings?" Both exclaimed.

"Yes, thankfully they formed after your birth." Athena finished arranging the dress of Andronicia too. "They are a tad exotic and I had no desire to give birth to a baby with them."

She reached for the bare back of Andronicia, resting her cool hands on the soft skin. For a moment she let them rest there, before starting to tug on something.

Eirene's mouth fell open as she watched as frail wings sprouted from her sister's back. They were long and shiny with blood-vessels running down their length. Andronicia stretched them, looking with big silver eyes at them. They looked like those of insects, long and slender. And see-through.

She giggled as she saw how Athena looked seen through an insect-wing.

Athena smiled too, walking around the wings towards her other daughter.

Eirene felt a tugging sensation at her back as Athena revealed her wings.

"Woah…" Her sister gasped. "Those are beautiful."

Eirene turned too, coming face to face with the purest white, dappled with silver highlights.

"Huh, I do not recall them being with silver." Athena brushed over the wings of her daughter. "I guess they came to be as you grew older."

"I'm jealous." Andronicia stated, studying the silver patterns on her sister's wings. "Mine are boring in comparison to yours."

"At least you have wings." Athena pointed out. "Come, try them out. The room is big enough to do so."


	4. Chapter 4

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 4**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Flying is hard." Eirene stated. "How do birds make it look so easy?" She rubbed her bottom.

"At least you can imagine how you're supposed to use your wings." Her sister stated. Andronicia had spread hers and now looked in dismay at the four new appendages she had. How she was supposed to use all four without hitting one with the other was beyond her.

"It's a matter of instinct and practice." Their mother helped Eirene up. "You'll get it at one point."

"Hopefully before I ruin them." Andronicia answered, helplessly tugging at one of her wings. "Some help please?"

"You ask that of the one person in the room who has no wings?" Athena smiled, before looking at the wings. "I believe the trick lies in a wave-motion of sorts. First one pair goes up, shortly followed by the other. You better ask your father, or some other god with wings."

"We'll figure it out." Andronicia tucked them back in.

"I'm sure you will. You are mine after all." Athena turned to look out of the window. "It is nearing evening: do you wish to go to Olympus?"

Olympus, fabled home of the Gods. Neither had fully realized that would now be their home also. But if it was their home now, what of Rhoda and Leander? Would that still be their family too? Eirene voiced their combined concerns, which were quickly put to rest by Athena.

"They are your family, and you can visit them, but keep those visits scarce. It would not do if you two favored a certain family too much." The Wisdom-Goddess said.

"Good. We'd miss them." Just as they finished saying that the air grew cold, as if the sun had been covered by thick and dark clouds. But it was not so, the fiery chariot of Helios crossed a perfect blue sky.

The shadows in one corner grew even darker and deeper. The two young women sought shelter behind their mother as massive wings rose up. Their feathers were as black as the shadows they had disconnected from. The man stepped forward, his deep-red toga last to be freed from his mode of travel.

"Beloved." Athena stepped forward, gently taking his hand. This was how the twins of Athena met their sire; Thanatos. The personification of death turned to the War-goddess, smiling for perhaps a few moments as he looked at her. Then he turned to his daughters, his face as impassive as if they were just random mortals.

Both shivered at the aura of death he exuded, recalling only too well that he nearly would have taken their mortal mother and sister. His silver eyes looked them up and down, resting a bit longer on their own.

"My daughters." He greeted them. "You inherited your mother's beauty."

"Thank you." Andronicia managed to say, her wings twitching in discomfort. He saw it and smiled. Although it was a beautiful smile, it was clear he rarely did it. As collector of the dead you didn't have much cause to smile.

"There is no need to fear me." He reached with one hand to them, the other still closed around Athena's. "I would never harm you."

"We know." Eirene whispered. "Athena said you had spared our mortal mother and sister because we wanted you to…"

Athena flinched slightly at the reminder that she had not been allowed to raise her children herself, but remained silent.

"I came to an agreement with my sisters the Fates that their lives would not end then, yes." Thanatos did not outwardly react when the bolder of his children took his hand, but Andronicia felt him squeeze her appendage lightly.

"Thank you." They both said. "It means much to us."

"I know." He looked at Athena. "Will we stay here tonight?"

She nodded. "Best to let them get used to the change before overwhelming them."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Both could understand why Athena had feared coming to Olympus right away could have overwhelmed them: the city on top of the mountain was unbelievable! Marble and ivory walls held golden roofs, lush gardens giving the city color.

"Holy…" Eirene could only gape at the realization that this was now her home as well. Athena smiled in amusement at their faces.

"Come, I will show you where you'll live and some other important places before I have to attend my duties again." She gestured up the mountain.

"Wait, what?" Andronicia started at hearing what the Goddess had said. "But what of us? What are we supposed to do while you attend your duties?"

"Explore the mountain some more, make yourselves comfortable." Thanatos had left them early that morning, his duties also calling him away from the girls. It did not sit well with Athena at all, but she had taken off the entire day yesterday and unless she wanted to alert her family that something was up with the two, she had to cut the time she'd spend with them. She had no desire of a repeat of the problems her honeymoon had caused. It had been then the discontent voices of her siblings had begun to pop up, only to grow louder with each passing year.

She gritted her teeth as she led them up the street to where her temple was located. Luckily it was early enough that no one was about yet. Well, no one beside Helios and others whose duties cared not for the activity of the mortals. But Helios had sworn on the Styx to never divulge who the two new 'servants' of Athena were, a precaution she had taken when she had first noticed she was pregnant with girls. She turned to look at them, feeling a hint of anger taint her heart. Anger, followed very closely by the even more terrible emotion of hate…

Why was she not allowed to raise her own children? Why had her family driven it this far? She should have celebrated their birth, not been forced to hide it! She should have been allowed to rejoice…


	5. Chapter 5

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 5**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Something had changed in their mother. The two young women could sense it. It did not take a Goddess of Wisdom to figure out what it was: she was very upset with the situation she and her husband had found themselves in regards to their children.

Now both of them were exploring the great mountain-dwelling of the Gods, a place too perfect to describe, since their mother had left to perform her duties. They were in one of the gardens, practicing their flight, when Eirene finally managed to get her own wings under control. Andronicia had a few more problems, but she had figured out the mechanism behind the use of four wings at least. Now it was just a question of practice before she could join her sister in the air.

"I envy birds right now." She stared through her wings, running her fingers over the black veins in them. "They only have two wings."

"Once you figure it out, it'll be easy." Her sister flapped her white wings to remain aloft. The dress she was wearing seemed undisturbed by the powerful winds they were generating, hanging around her body as if she was standing on solid ground.

"First to figure it out." Andronicia glared upwards. "Now come back down here, you show-off."

"That's a bit rude." The voice came from a young man resting in one of the trees. "Just because she has figured it out while you haven't doesn't mean you can be jealous."

Eirene touched down beside her sister regardless, both looking at him in silence as he came down from the tree. His own white wings were bigger than Eirene's, but without the silver highlights.

"You must be new on Olympus, I would know anyone whom my mother has so obviously blessed." He bowed to them in greeting.

"We are." Andronicia answered him. "Lady Athena brought us here."

"Did she now?" He tilted his head some. "Why would my aunt bring you here?"

"She wants us for handmaidens, Lord Eros." The hints had clicked in her head and Andronicia had realized who he was.

"With wings?" Eros doubted it, but to call them liars could potentially anger Athena and that was something he could ill afford. "So what are your names?"

"Andronicia and Eirene, daughters of Rhoda." She answered.

"Ah, I see." Eros smiled. "Your sister does not speak much, does she?"

"She's shy." Andronicia acknowledged. "She only speaks to strangers if she sees great need."

"A dangerous flaw around my family." Eros stated. "They'll trample you if you cannot give them cause not to."

"It will not come that far." Andronicia countered, her silver eyes staring the god down.

"We will see." Eros smirked. "So you are Athena's handmaidens? Have you made the acquaintance with Thanatos already?"

"Briefly."

"What was your opinion of him?" The Love-god asked.

Both sisters were silent, looking briefly at one another before Andronicia spoke again. "The meeting was too short to form an opinion on him, and we dare not follow the myths to make one."

"A diplomatic answer." Eros spread his wings. "But I'd be careful: Thanatos is not well-liked on Olympus and where there is smoke, there is fire." He took off.

Both sisters remained behind, staring as the God disappeared into thin air. They looked at each other, wondering if every god shared Eros' opinion on their sire. It would certainly explain their parents' desire to have them grow up far from all that.

They silently decided to leave the gardens, strolling to the other side of the mountain-top. There were the training-fields, most prominently the Arena. Below those lay even more gardens, going far down the mountain. It was a testimony to the power of the gods that nothing of all this was visible in the world of the mortals.

Andronicia found the weapons-chamber, taking one of the lesser bows resting on tables. Figuring that gods would take their own bows home, she risked trying it out on the range. She had always been fascinated by the arts of war, something she now knew came from her mother. Eirene sat on the grass behind her, citing the wish for a safe distance the moment her sister picked up a weapon.

What neither knew was that someone else had been about to go onto the range themselves and were now watching them both with interest. Apollo and Artemis stood in the shadow of one of the nearby temples, watching as the two young women laughed at Andronicia's shot.

Light reflected of the iridescent wings of the one holding the bow when she challenged her sister to do better, poking her with the end of the bow until she took it.

White wings, fluffy as clouds on a warm summer-day, rustled when the sister rose to do her siblings bidding. It was as she threw her black hair back, the long tresses contrasting with the white feathers of her wings and her long, white dress fell down her body in perfect waves that he felt it: the sting of an arrow.

He had not heard it approach and he most assuredly had not seen it coming, but here he was, a son of Zeus, shot in the heart by Eros once more. The arrow had gone deep, and had hit his heart spot-on.

As Eirene drew back the arrow, releasing it towards the target, Apollo was lost. Eros, son of Ares and Aphrodite, had not forgotten Apollo's insult of him and he knew that a handmaiden of Athena would be the worst possible choice for a wife. She might have married, but the former virgin-goddess remained all but celibate if the rumors were to be believed, going so far as to refuse entry to her bed to her husband. She would not allow one of her very own servants to have a relationship with anyone, God or not.


	6. Chapter 6

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 6**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Did you enjoy Olympus?" Athena asked when they returned. Both nodded, sitting down on several of the pillows strewn around the lounge the Goddess was resting on.

"We met Lord Eros in one of the gardens." Andronicia said.

"And you wonder where that attitude towards Thanatos comes from?" Their mother guessed.

"He said 'where there is smoke, there is fire', but in the world of the mortals we never even knew that there was such a rift on Olympus." Eirene softly whispered. "What happened?"

"Pride." Athena snarled. "There were and are those of my siblings who had a 'if I can't have Athena, no one can'-policy. And then along came Thanatos, who did get me. What was once jealousy became hate, hate became animosity and animosity fuelled the fires of fury. By the end of the year, only Ares still actively supported our union. The rest of our families either actively advocated we end it, or stood by silently as more and more voices were raised. It did not help matters that your father is very private, and does not show emotion easily. Or at all, for that matter. No one, not even Nyx and Erebus, know of the depth of his feelings towards me."

"But… Isn't it said that Nyx and Erebus wanted this union?" Andronicia recalled the story told about the wedding of War and Death.

"In the beginning. But with the animosity towards Thanatos also grew the animosity towards their family. They much rather see our marriage fail than have their family suffer through that." Athena got up and walked to a small table against the wall. She returned with three wine-cups and an oenochoe, a kind of wine jug. The wine had been thinned with water and so she gave each of her daughters a full goblet. "Even Hera, though she will not admit it, would much rather see this marriage smashed like a ship on cliffs than have Death on Olympus."

"What's wrong with that?" Andronicia asked, carefully taking a sip of the wine she had been given. The red liquid swirled in her cup, glistening like blood in the dim light that filtered through the few windows.

"We are Gods, we are deathless." Athena frowned. "Some believe that should not only mean the state of being, but also the deity."

Suddenly a thought came upon the shyer of the twins. "What are we?"

"Mmmmh?" Athena looked up from her own cup, her silver eyes meeting those of her daughter.

"We are goddesses, I believe, but how do we know what our dominions are?"

"Gods grow into their powers, or simply take them for their own." Athena explained. "You grew into them. If you'd let me, I could see what they are."

"Yes, please." Both said at the same time, only having shared a brief glance between them.

She smiled, amused by their eager faces. Goddesses or not, they were still children at heart. She tilted her head, listening with her elusive sixth sense, which told all immortals if a god and which one was near.

"You are true daughters of Athena and Thanatos. You are both Death and War." Athena smiled. "You, my gentle Eirene, are the Goddess of Peace, the Death of War. You have the power to stop me in my tracks if you so desire. Your blessing outweighs my curse. But you, my fair Andronicia, you hold power like your father. By your decree will mortals perish and armies be destroyed. You are as your father, you collect the dead, but only those I have deemed to die. Those that die on the Battlefield are yours as those that die away from it are your father's. You are the Goddess of the Fallen, the Dead of War."

"Equal parts War and Death…" Eirene breathed. "Only the direction differs."

"Indeed." Athena looked proudly upon them. "Better daughters I could not have gotten."

It was praise. The moment a goddess praised you, you either drowned in it, or reveled in it. Both daughters had been raised for the last one. Leander and Rhoda had done a truly fine job, even if Eirene was a tad too soft-spoken for the battlefield that was Olympus.

Both blushed vibrantly as their mother chuckled. "You should go to bed, my dears. You will accompany me on my duties tomorrow. By now Eros will have told my family that I have handmaidens. It would be strange if I did not bring them with me."

"That's alright." Andronicia said, suppressing a yawn. "It's what we were raised to do, so it would be a shame if that went to waste."

Had Eirene not been watching Athena, she would have missed the flinch at the word 'raised'. A pang of anger flared in her heart for a brief moment when she realized how much her true mother hurt at the situation. She had been forced to give her children away for save-keeping, not even able to visit or talk to them. And now she had them back, only to have to treat them as handmaidens in public because she feared what her own family would do to them once they found out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 7**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When Ares woke it was in a cold sweat. The thin sheet clung to his body, his sweat having very nearly drenched it completely. He was suffering from nightmares for days on end now. Normally he reveled in bloodshed, but not the kind that plagued his sleep and disturbed his night.

He rose from the rumbled bed, making his way to the adjacent room. There, cast in silver on a great table, was a detailed map of the entire Mediterranean. Holding his head with the other, he stretched his hand over it, watching as the pawns moved across the land and sea. When they matched what he had seen in his nightmare, he retracted his hand, studying the set-up.

"This makes no sense." He muttered, moving his blood-red eyes from one pawn to the next. "This is not war, this is madness. This makes no sense."

He tapped the pawn that was the army of Athens, which was at Sparta, with one hand and used the other to tap the pawn that represented the Athenian Navy. It was far in the West, seemingly raiding a city located there. He repeated the gesture for every Mortal Power and came to the same result every time. This made no sense. Armies fought in one place and the Navies were located somewhere completely unrelated. Allies turned against one another while sworn enemies seemed to ally themselves.

He snarled, storming back into his room to dress. Days ago he had fallen into this strange routine: wake up, reflect on dreams, declare them madness, go to the Fates. Every time they had waved him off, stating that those dreams were merely a reflection of his nature. After all, was he not the God of Bloodshed? Was it not in his nature to cause senseless death on the battlefield?

But not this time, and if he had to beat the answer out of them, he would have answers this time.

As he left his temple he encountered Athena, walking down the streets. Her two handmaidens flanked her.

"Good morning, brother." She greeted him.

"Sister, Eirene." He smiled briefly at them, before turning to the young woman closest to him. "Andronicia, as enchanting as ever."

He had taken a liking – well, more an arrow of his errant son, but he would not reveal that to Athena, she'd murder him – to the young handmaiden of his sister.

"My Lord." She blushed and curtsied. "You honor me."

There was a flash of something unreadable in Athena's eyes for a moment, before she seemed to mentally shake herself.  
>"So, brother, where are you off to in such turmoil?" She asked while Andronicia stepped back respectfully.<p>

"My sleep is troubled. I fear evil lies ahead for the mortals." Ares briefly told her about his dream. From the corner of his eye he saw Andronicia and her sister grow wide-eyed at what he was telling.

"It seems to me, one or both of us will be angered by something." Athena said after a short silence. "Who else could spur the Mortals into such actions? Such war?"

"I realized that much, but I fear what could cause that." Ares gestured down the street. "I must talk to the Fates. Excuse me from breakfast should I not make it."

"Off course." Athena watched him disappear into thin air.

"Mother." Eirene hissed softly, stepping closer. "I need to talk to you."

Athena glanced at her and nodded. She led them away from the main street, to where her own temple stood. Once inside again she turned to her daughters.

"It was not only a War-god in rage in those dreams, was it?" Andronicia had realized what had upset her sister so. "Eirene too is raging there, isn't she?"

"Most likely." The older Goddess admitted. "Otherwise you would have stopped or at the very least contained the … bloodshed."

"Great Gods above…" Eirene was shocked. "What… How could I… do something like that?"

"I cannot say." Athena looked up through one of the windows. "Ares no doubt will have answers once he returns."  
>"Answers to what?" A male voice asked, coming from the shadows. Neither of the Twins jumped anymore upon hearing it, they had become used to their father appearing in such a way.<p>

"I'll tell you on the way to breakfast, beloved." Athena reached for him. "How was the night?"

"Calm." He took her hand in his, bending to kiss her soft cheek briefly. "Few died."

"You should have visited me then." She admonished him, smiling warmly.

"Not that calm." He chuckled, before growing serious again. "You need to talk to your father. The amount of mortals dying at night these days is too high. I'm beginning to believe someone wants to keep me away from you at night."

"Well, that rules out Ares." Athena sighed. "And includes even my father."

"Well, subtly remind him that if it doesn't stop, I just might do something rash." Thanatos flared his wings briefly.

"Thanatos!" His wife exclaimed.

"Their opinion of me is poor as it is, so I see no point in trying to salvage it." He neatly tucked them in again, his feathers as dark as the deepest Shadows of his father. The long robes Athena had made for him contrasted nicely with his pale skin.

"They will see sense." The Goddess of War whispered.

"When?" The God of Death demanded. "You have been saying that for decades, Athena. Even for Gods, that is a long time. Sooner or later enough is enough. I can only take so much."

"I know." She turned away, her voice falling to a whisper as his rose to near screaming. Their daughters watched helplessly as their parents slowly but surely began to break under the pressure of Olympian hate and animosity.

"It will be mother." Eirene whispered to Andronicia, so soft that even the Gods could not hear it. "She will be the one to snap and cause that bloodshed."

"Was there ever any question about that?" Her sister answered in kind, looking sadly upon the couple in front of them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 8**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Hello again." Eirene looked up at the soft voice. Apollo, God of Music, stood a few feet away, watching her intently.

"My Lord." She bowed, before returning to the flowers she had been collecting.

"Does Athena not have other servants for that?" He joined her, gesturing to the basket resting on the ground beside her.

"I like flowers." Eirene evaded his question. "It's no bother."

"Pah, being around that temple seems to be a bother to me already." He snorted. Eirene did not answer, but her sister would have seen the subtle shift of light in her eyes that heralded that the shyer sister was upset.

"My Lord, please refrain from speaking so about them." She softly asked, her silver eyes fixed on the rose-thorns she was removing.

"My dear Eirene, surely you see that Thanatos does not fit upon Olympus." He countered.

She remained silent, forcefully pulling a brown leave from the rose in her hand.

"Will you take long?" The God asked, looking over to the archery range. "I thought I could give you some more lessons in archery if you have time."

"I would have to ask my Lady if she requires me for anything." Eirene answered, picking up the basket with flowers.

"I'll join you."

The short walk to Athena's temple was filled with simple small-talk. Eirene did think Apollo was nice, but the fact that he was among the main opponents against her parents' union made it hard for her to like him.

Athena was alone in her temple, save for Andronicia, who was weaving in a corner. She readily allowed Eirene to go to the Archery field with her brother, as long as she did not stay away too long. On the way out they encountered Ares, who looked like he had just come from a battlefield. After assuring them he was alright, he entered the dimly lit temple of his sister.

"Athena?" The War-god stepped inside, folding his cloak over his arm. Andronicia rose from where she was still weaving, taking it to hang it over one of the chairs. "Can I talk to you privately?"

"Certainly." She patted gestured to the lounge next to the one she was sitting on. "Andronicia, get some wine, please."

The young woman bowed, returning moments later with a jug of wine and assorted fruits. After a nod of thanks from Athena she left the room.

"What did you wish to speak about?" The Goddess asked her brother, who stared after the young handmaiden.

"I returned from the Fates." He began, fixing her with a stare she herself would have been proud off. "Perhaps next time, you remember to have them swear to silence too."

It took the mighty Goddess of Wisdom only a second to figure out what he was talking about. "They told you?"

"In their defense, I was threatening them." Ares leaned forward. "Why did you never tell anyone about them?"

"And expose them to what exactly?" Athena shot up from her seat. "Are you blind, brother? Surely you too realized exactly what would happen to them should our family find out that Thanatos actually impregnated me! What Father would do, not only to their father, but also them!"

"You could have told me." Ares turned as she started to pace. "I supported you always. Or did I lose your trust somewhere along the way?"

"The less know the better it is." Athena stopped, biting her nail. "They are too young to face the hate of our family."

"Sooner or later someone will find out." Ares rose, carefully turning the woman to look at him. "I am on your side, but the next might not, will not."

"I have to keep them save, Ares. They are my daughters. I could not give them the childhood they deserved, but I have to give them the future they deserve." Athena whispered. "I had to give my daughters away to be raised by someone else. I refuse to have them live away from me any longer."

"Considering the Tartarus that will break loose once the rest finds out, that might have been smarter." Ares looked to where Andronicia had left the room. A small speck of light danced across the wall for a moment, before fading into the general gloom of the hallway.

"I couldn't…" Athena breathed. "I couldn't leave them forever, no matter how much wiser that would have been. They are my daughters, Ares, my firstborn…"

"I know, sister, I know…" Ares soothed her. This was a fine mess their family had created here. He definitely understood why the Fates had in the end told him that he would not be the cause of the bloodshed, but rather 'the mother whose handmaidens are born from her womb and whose husband follows in the wake of her rage'. The biggest problem was figuring out how to stop that apocalypse and to do so before Athena snapped.


	9. Chapter 9

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 9**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"It is growing worse, my love." Thanatos softly told Athena. They were resting in the bath together, his arms locked around her waist. "It has to stop."

"How?" She leaned back, hiding behind her hair.

"Talk to them." He briefly tightened his embrace. "I am growing tired of their petty animosity…"

"But…"

"No." He sharply cut her off. "You know how much I love you, Athena, but if they don't get their act together soon I will do something we'll both regret, family-bonds be damned. It has been over 70 years, more than a lifetime of mortals. I will not stand down any longer when they challenge me."

She fell silent, her hands turning into fists at his words.

"My owl." His voice turned soft as his hand stroked her cheek. "I do not want this to continue: our children, our beloved daughters, have been with us for years now and it still isn't save enough to claim them as such. What use is bringing them Olympus for eternity when they cannot properly enjoy it?"

"None." Athena admitted. "The next meeting. Then we'll bring it up."

He nodded against her neck, softly pressing a chaste kiss to the elegant arch. A shiver ran down her body, reaction enough to make him repeat the gesture. The hand still resting against her cheek closed around her chin, tilting it back to give him better access.

Outside the room Andronicia sneaked away from the door, returning as softly and swiftly as she could manage back to the bedroom she shared with her sister.

"And?" The younger of the twins sat upright in her bed. At the age of 20, both had grown to be fine women, their bodies no longer those of girls, but rather those worthy of goddesses.

"They're making out." Andronicia shed her long dress, slipping into her own bed.

Eirene was already prepared for sleep, a thin tunic the only thing protecting her modesty. "That's not what I meant."

"The next meeting." Andronicia told her what she had heard. "Father's tired of waiting and mother no longer opposes him."

They had taken to calling Leander and Rhoda dad and mom and Thanatos and Athena the more formal father and mother over the years, though the latter was still restricted to the temple they lived in.

"We should warn Ares." Eirene suggested. "He ought to know about this."

"How?" Andronicia blushed faintly. "We're too old to simply sneak to his temple and they can't teach us normal god-powers without alerting the others."

"You two are practically married. Just sneak over to him." Eirene pointed out. Her sister blushed more vibrantly at that. True, the only thing that kept Ares from taking her to the altar was that he wanted her to have her proper position before doing so. And her parents knew this. The rest of the Pantheon thought he was simply bidding his time for some reason. "No one's going to think that strange. Particularly because you've done it more than once already."

"Fine…" Andronicia left her bed once more, swiftly dressing again. "I'll be back in a flash." She left the room, sneaking down the long hallway to the exit.

Once outside she took to the skies, the soft buzzing of her wings the only thing breaking the night-silence. Luckily Ares' temple wasn't that far from Athena's, so she could be reasonably certain no one had seen her on the short flight.

She used the shadows to reach the front-door and knocked in the special way she had devised with the War-god. Immediately he opened the heavy doors to allow her to enter.

"Isn't it a bit late for a visit?" He asked as he led her to the couch. "Your parents might get a wrong thought."

"I had to talk to you." She allowed him to push her onto the soft pillows. "It is urgent."

"What is it then?" He sank down next to her, his sun-kissed form only covered by a simple tunic.

"Athena and Thanatos are intending to confront the Pantheon at the next meeting." Andronicia whispered urgently, even here in the heart of his temple afraid someone might overhear.

"Oh no." He gasped. "They will not listen."

"Then I fear Thanatos will do something rash." She told him what she had overheard as she had been eavesdropping on her parents.

"Olympus is doomed." Was his reaction. "They will not listen and I know him well enough to know that he means it. It is an immovable object being hit by an unstoppable force. Death will rage tomorrow evening."

He looked out the window, letting his gaze fall upon the pale moon. "Return to her temple. This is a storm we cannot stop. Only ride out."


	10. Chapter 10

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 10**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In the end, Ares had not been exaggerating when stating this would be a storm they could only ride out: in a matter of minutes the assembly had descended into a shouting-match. The twins flanked their mother as was their wont and he could see the sadness flood their beings as several uncles started to once more demand the divorce of Athena and Thanatos.

Those two remained impassive, having become used to it. But then everything changed when Apollo ended with the statement: "No Olympian should be with Death, it's a disgrace at best!"

Eirene froze at that, her eyes widening in horror as she thought back to a day so long ago when her mother had told her what she was the Goddess of… 'You, my gentle Eirene, are the Goddess of Peace, the Death of War.' Those had been Athena's words. She was Death as much as her father.

"Liar!" Her voice, normally meek and silent, echoed in the room as she stalked forward towards him, throwing the Gods completely off-guard. "If that is true, then you are a liar." She stated coldly, meeting his eyes furiously. "And I want nothing to do with Gods that do not even honor _themselves_." She grabbed the necklace she was wearing, his gift to her for her 20th birthday and threw it at his chest. "That I would see the day where the God of Truth turned out to be a liar." Tears appeared in her eyes as she looked at him. Then she turned and ran.

"Eirene!" Athena got up half-way as the young woman ran past her.

"I'll follow her." Andronicia assured the Goddess, throwing a sad glance to Ares. She ran out the Hall after her sister, calling out to her. She was unsuccessful, as the beating of a set of wings proved.

Athena stood there frozen, no longer hearing anything that was being said as she stared at the door her two daughters had run out off.

And then she only saw red. She had had enough of her family rejecting Thanatos at every turn. She had had enough of Apollo droning on and on about how unfitting he was for her and meanwhile woe her daughter, whether he knew she was that or not. After 70 years, Athena was no longer going to stand for it.

Apollo barely managed to avoid the spear hurtling at his face. He looked up to see a face he had not seen for 70 years: Athena was enraged beyond words, her silver eyes flashing in fury.

"A disgrace at best?" She echoed, snarling. "No Olympian should be with Death? My dear brother, you are a liar and a hypocrite and I have grown sick and tired of you insulting my family every day for the past few years!"

Her spear returned to her hand as she advanced towards him. "For years now you have insulted my husband and boycotted our marriage at every corner. I might have forgiven you that, but this last thing was the straw!" She seemed to grow at every step, her anger manifesting in pure power radiating off of her.

Ares feared where this was going, but he knew better than to interfere: she had always bested him and now would be no different. He also knew that she wouldn't stop at stabbing Apollo only once: she'd dice him into neat little cubes and possibly scatter them over the world or some such.

Zeus realized the same as he saw the look in his daughter's eyes: the very same she had had when facing her grandfather Kronos in the second Titanomachy. He had to do something or he'd need months or possibly even years to find all pieces of Apollo again. Besides, she was overreacting anyway.

"Father, no!" Ares screamed as he saw what was about to happen, but he was too late: the thunderbolt hit Athena square in her chest. For a moment she resisted, only terrified disbelief on her face, and then her body was flung backwards and landed at Thanatos' feet. The personification of Death had not moved and he still did not, only looking down at his wife.

He slowly reached down, gently resting his fingertips on her cheek. She did not move, but a small arc of electricity stunned him into removing them again.

"Was she not your favorite?" He wondered softly. "How come then that you turn against her like this?"

He rose from his seat, gently scooping her up. "It shall be as you wish, Zeus."

The flesh melted from his bones, leaving nothing but bleak white. "I will no longer reside at Olympus, but if you think even for a moment I'd not take my wife with me, you are sorely mistaken." His wings rose threateningly. "And you, Apollo, do not think you'll get away from this unpunished." His calm voice was deceptive as long locks of black hair fell to the ground, indicating his flesh melting was progressing. "You will sorely regret this. I will ensure so myself." The next moment he was gone, fading into the shadows as only a child of Erebus and Nyx could.


	11. Chapter 11

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 11**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Idiots!" Ares screamed furiously. "You Chaos-damned Idiots!" His voice echoed in the hall, a deep rumbling passing down the mountains. "Do you have any idea what you have done?"

"Ares, mind your tone." Zeus ordered.

"Or what? You'll throw a lightning-bolt against me?" Ares fumed. "That was unnecessary and you know it."

"She was overreacting." Zeus stated. "She attacked Apollo."

"She was underreacting." Ares growled. "He deserved every bit what was coming to him."

"I merely spoke the truth." Apollo was rearranging his tunic. "It is a disgrace."

"Watch it, or I attack you." The God of War snarled. "Right now you are threading a very thin line between hypocrite and idiot. Don't fall into hypocrite-territory."

"Ares!" Thunder rumbled in the sky outside. "Watch it!"

"No!" Ares stood in the middle of the room, facing his father. "Do what you will, father, but I will not be silent. You just called a terror upon the mortals they should never have to fear. Wars will tear the Mediterranean apart, and it will be your fault!"

"Is that a threat?" The King of the Gods glared at his son.

"A warning." Ares stated. "Athena lies defeated. After what Apollo did, do you think her family will remain calm?"

"Thanatos can be contained." Erebus countered softly, a glint of sadness in his dark eyes. "And while it breaks my heart, I would do so."

"And can you enforce Eirene's favor upon humanity?" Ares pointed at him. "No, because you do not even know who she is. Can you contain Andronicia? No, because you do not even know WHO she IS." Ares flung his hands up. "Chaos have mercy on you, but you do not even know them."

"They are mortals given immortality." Artemis stated. "What else is there to know?"

"The only thing mortal about them is their upbringing, sister." Ares took the necklace laying on the ground: Eirene's until she had thrown it against Apollo's chest. "They are Goddesses, powerful enough to command me. Eirene's favor is one of the most vital to the mortals. And yet, here you are, enraging her."

"Goddesses?" Nyx demanded. "How can they be Goddesses?"

"How can they be mortals?" Ares countered, looking at her with sadness in his eyes. "How can the grandchildren of Zeus and Nyx be anything but Goddesses? How could a mortal possibly spring from Athena's womb? How could Thanatos' seed possibly plant a mortal?" He gestured to the two empty thrones behind him. "How could Athena and Thanatos have ever begotten Mortals?"

He spun on his heels, meeting the eyes of those still present calmly, evenly. "How many of you knew this? How many of you knew that those two were their children? None, because all of you ensured that they feared for their lives. Athena and Thanatos feared for the immortal lives of their first-born. Oh Fates, how could you do this?" He stopped when facing Apollo. "And you, brother, you are a hypocrite. You pronounce your love for Eirene to the heavens, but consider her father unworthy of an Olympian. After all, she is Death as much as her father." Ares chuckled weakly. "Oh brother, you are a fool and I fear the mortals will pay the price for your foolishness. They will lose Eirene's favor. In her rage, she will not consider innocent and guilty."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The safest haven either child of Athena could think of was still their home in the small city two hours from Athens. There were no Gods there, none took interest in it save Athena and Thanatos and those two only in obvious matters.

Eirene had flown from Olympus with all her speed, diving to their childhood-home with break-neck speed. Tears blurred her vision and the wind drowned out all sounds. Only by pure instinct did she not crash into the garden Rhoda so loved, though even now it was a close call. The slave present screamed when he was suddenly faced by a Goddess with white wings. She ignored him, storming inside to find her mom.

"Eirene!" Shattering pottery followed the exclamation as arms closed around the weeping woman. "Oh my little one, whatever is the matter?"

When Andronicia reached the house her sister was already sobbing in Rhoda's arms, Leander standing to the side.

"What happened?" He asked after a brief hug.

"Apollo has upset her greatly, I fear." Andronicia softly told him. "He said Death has no place beside an Olympian."

Leander and Rhoda had been told all about their daughters several years ago, including their heritage and domains. They were smart enough to realize their daughter's grief.

"Oh dear. What did Athena and Thanatos have to say about that?" Rhoda asked, from the few brief meetings she had had with the two coming to realize that their love for the two girls was as true and strong as her own.

"I do not know. We… left before we could see." Andronicia sat down beside the two women.

Their smaller sister, now aged seven, looked at them with big eyes. But even the sparkling wings of the older twin did not hold her fancy for long: soon her eyes were roving again. She screamed when she saw the shadows in the far corner move.

A skeleton dressed in dark silk rose from the shadows, his empty eyes fastening on the screaming child. The two immortals could feel his rage roll of him in waves, explaining his terrible looks. Next came his wings, almost bald of feathers, leaving only the few bones.

"Father." Andronicia rose. "What happened?"

"They went too far." Thanatos stated, lifting his arms to free them of the shadows. Athena was unconscious, burns marring her skin and her toga had a burnt hole on her chest. "Behold the work of your grandfather Zeus."


	12. Chapter 12

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter: 12**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Zeus did that?" Andronicia demanded in horror, gently cupping her mother's cheek, looking her over with worried silver eyes. The stench of burnt flesh wafted up to her nose.

"He most assuredly did." Thanatos walked past her to one of the empty lounges where he laid Athena down gently. "Because she had had enough of Apollo's talk."

"What?" Eirene looked up at hearing the name of the God that had been courting her for years now.

"She lost it after you ran." Thanatos was starting to get himself under control again, his flesh returning to his bones. "She attacked him with the intent of doing serious damage. Zeus protected him with one of his thunderbolts."

"Thunderbolts?" Andronicia echoed, horrified. "He used a thunderbolt on Mother?"

"Yes." Her father snarled. "And no one stood up to protect her."

"But she is his favorite daughter…" Eirene breathed. "Why would he do that to her?"

"Because he agrees with Apollo of course." Andronicia frowned, arms crossed in front of her chest. "They all do."

"Not all." A voice said from the door-opening. "I do not."

Ares had followed them shortly after his tirade, being more worried about his sister than about how his family would react to that particular tidbit of information.

"You are about the only one." Thanatos flapped his wings, feathers sprouting from the bone.

"Sadly, yes." Ares briefly greeted the two mortals, before squeezing Andronicia. "What will you do?"

"They went too far." Thanatos stated. "Olympus will feel my wrath over this." He gestured to his still unconscious wife.

"Not only yours." Eirene stated. She was the gentler of the twins, but the sight of her wounded mother awoke another side in her: the protective one. "They proclaimed you unworthy of Mother. The worth of two is measured at the power of their child. I will show them mine."

Ares remained silent, knowing that this had already been decided: humanity would suffer under never-ending war until Eirene was appeased. The question was when would she be?

"Not only yours." Andronicia held Ares' hand. "The battlefields will be littered with dead."

Ares closed his eyes briefly. Had they any idea what exactly they were condemning the mortals too? Then again, had the Gods ever had one with every war they started? Had Athena and Hera thought of the lives lost when they unleashed the Trojan War?

He glanced over to his sister. Already he could feel the wars brewing now that Eirene had voiced the intent to punish the gods. Could she too? He wasn't sure.

"Then it will be as you wish." He whispered, looking over at Eirene. "If there is no peace, there is war. On the cities you turn your back to, I will unleash my rage."

She looked so much like her mother now: her silver eyes burning with the same rage he had seen in Athena's not half an hour ago. Her wings were shining with power, the silver lines sparkling in the light of Helios' sun.

He looked at Thanatos, still standing at Athena's side. Remembering what Zeus had done had unleashed his anger once more: the newly formed feathers were falling off once more, covering the ground around his feet. His flesh was melting, but this time his skin remained, revealing a dried up corpse standing the chambers of a mortal house.

The two mortals were taking it relatively well, though the mother had pulled her youngest on her lap, hiding the child's face in the crook of her neck. Considering the look of her step-sisters' father, that was quite understandable. The father – named Leander, if he remembered properly – had one hand on the girl's head, soothingly rubbing the brown locks. Neither had said a word since he appeared, but their eyes revealed their every thought to the God: they were upset about what the two younger Goddesses had just proclaimed. No doubt they feared for the safety of their small city, or the safety of relatives living in the bigger cities. He faintly recalled a mortal brother of the Twins living in Sparta. And Sparta would no doubt be one of the main players in this… mess. Chaos, he really did not want to be a Judge in the Underworld right now: they'd have no peace either.

He glanced at the woman still holding his hand: Andronicia, the Soul-collector of the Battlefield. He had yet to go to war since she came into her powers, Athena having begged him to not reveal the powers of the 'mortal' handmaiden, since even a fool could make the connection between her domain and Thanatos'. He had obliged his sister, but he could not do so now. No war was fought without death, and the upcoming brewing battle-pit the Mediterranean was doomed to be was no exception.

His dreams returned to him in full force, reminding him of massacres to come that were even more useless than his father a womanizer. And he was in no position to stop them. He, Athena and Eirene were meant to balance the others: the absence of the younger goddess meant the presence of the two elder ones and vice versa. And right now Eirene was nowhere to be found, so to speak.

"I feel the wars starting." He softly said. "It has begun."

And he dreaded every second of it. He sensed the start of Athens' involvement, he saw with his inner eye the fleet of Sparta set sail, he heard the cries of the first wives whose husbands were called to battle, he felt the tremors of moving war-machinery and he smelt the stench of a battlefield after a battle. The wars had begun, dooming Greeks and others alike.


	13. Chapter 13

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter: 13**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You can summon me all you want; I cannot do anything to stop this." Ares stated, frowning at his father. "It is Athena's family you have to appease here, not me."

"You are flooding the Mediterranean with war." Nyx told him. "Or can Athena do her duty when unconscious?"

"I am flooding the Mediterranean with war because your granddaughter Eirene, the Goddess of Peace, is retracting her blessing from every city including even her mother's main centers of worship; Athens and Sparta." Ares threw his hands up in frustration. "I am doing my best to contain the bloodshed, but Andronicia is raging."

"If you don't kill people, she has nothing to collect." Artemis countered.

"She collects men that have a bruise." Ares refuted her statement. "And lets others live even when their heads lay in front of their feet. And Thanatos encourages her, reminding her that as long as the statistics are right, there is no real problem."

"That is bullshit." Hades growled. "And you know it."

"Everyone does, but the two Collectors don't care." Ares gritted his teeth. "No one can contain them now."

"There must be something we can do." Hera looked around the room worriedly. "The mortals will no longer have faith in us should we let them all die in pointless wars."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, sister." Poseidon sighed. "Ares, what can we do?"

"As I said: none can contain them now." Ares shook his head sadly. "We must ride out this storm."

"I think you overestimate them." Zeus frowned, speaking for the first time.

"I think you underestimate them, father." Ares countered. "Do you honestly believe I did not try and stop them? This is all your fault."

"My fault?" The King of Heavens demanded, outraged.

"You shot your daughter with a lightning-bolt!" Ares answered equally outraged.

"She was about to annihilate Apollo!"

"He insulted her family and broke her daughters heart, what else was she supposed to do?" Ares demanded, his blood beginning to boil in anger. "The sooner you realize that she was and is not to blame for this, the sooner you stand a chance to appease her family. Eirene is a calm, level-headed woman, but seeing her mother so wounded inflames her fury anew each evening."

The War-God and the Lord of the Sky glared at one another, Ares' red eyes boring into his father's blue ones.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Far below the mountain-top of Olympus the Wars raged on, unchecked by any deity. Hidden from the eyes of the mortals Thanatos and Andronicia flew overhead, indiscriminate in whom they took.

A soft buzzing was all that warned perfectly healthy mortals that they were about to die under the hate-filled touch of Athena's daughter.

What Oracles survived were of little use to the humans, their only words on the matter being that the Olympians were to blame, having humiliated and insulted Thanatos and his kin.

Eirene stayed at her mother's side, tending to the older Goddess. Athena did not wake, the frontal hit of her father's thunderbolt having done massive damage. Of course Apollo could have restored her in the matter of a few minutes, but the Healer of the Gods had not dared to approach the small village where she was. In fact, he had not left his temple on Olympus since that fateful day, something which vexed his twin to no end. Artemis left him food, but he did not touch it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter: 14**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When Artemis came to Apollo's temple the next day, the door was wide open. She frowned and balancing the food with one hand, gently pushed it more open with the other. The Moon-goddess entered, frowning when she found the temple empty. Her brother was gone, his bow left on the table.

Down below on Earth a priest left the temple of his deity, the city he was in was flooded with refugees of the wars tearing the Mediterranean apart. He had trouble to simply get to the front gate. There he had to sneak outside, since everyone leaving the cities was suspected to be a spy. Though who they would be spying for, even the guards could not say. The fleet of Thebes was blocking the port of the city, but whatever land-forces were supposed to come here had not yet arrived, leaving the city relatively safe.

He sprinted across the fields, looking left and right for a horse or any other mode of transport he could find. In the end he found a sickly horse in the stables of an abandoned farm. The farmer had left the animal behind, knowing that it would die on the way to the city anyway. A soft prayer later and the horse was fine again. He climbed on the mare's back, turning her south, to where Athens lay. The city of Athena was being besieged from all sides, but for some reason its' armed forces were still present to defend it unlike those of any other city-state he could name.

The horse galloped the entire way, weaving through the armies marching to their ends like it was invisible.

The next day he crossed a battlefield. He pressed his eyes close, willing the stench of death to not enter his noses.

"Help… me…" A voice pleaded.

As he looked down, he recoiled in horror. The man was wearing Sparta's colors, but half of his body was missing. The right half… How could he still live?

He steeled himself, climbing down from the horse. He knew the mare wouldn't run.

"I… I can't do anything…" He looked the soldier over. The man was young, barely having received his first dusting of beard. This had to have been the first battle he had been in. "I'm sorry."

"Why do I not die?" The youngster asked, his face pale of blood-loss and his voice weak.

"The Olympians are to blame. For they have angered and insulted Thanatos and his daughters." The man whispered the words every oracle spoke the entire time, regardless of whether it fitted the request made of them or not. "Unless they are appeased, this will not end."

"Then pray, Priest." The young soldier ordered. "I shall wait here until they take pity on me. You pray to whatever god you serve that they do."

"I serve Apollo." The man answered. "And I shall pray. But know this: you have made your ancestors proud today, young one." He rose, climbing on his horse again. The Spartans would not show fear and pain, even when death should long have claimed them. He urged the mare forward, dashing south. Soon enough he hit the roads again, the horse now going in full gallop. At the crossroads he steered her to the left, away from the distant buildings of Athena's main center of worship.

After an hour of galloping through a thick forest, he arrived at his destination: a small city at two hours travel from Athens.

"The house of Leander the merchant?" He asked one of the women he encountered in the streets. She pointed him into the heart of the small city. There was no war here, the only worry that of when it would come, not when the husbands or sons or brothers would return. It was the only city truly being spared in this mess.

He had to ask several more times before he reached his destination: a moderate house, of a man who clearly was earning well while not being rich.

He fastened the reigns of the mare to a nearby tree, before knocking on the wooden door.

A slave opened.

"May I speak to your master?" The man bowed.

"Master and Mistress are not at home." The slave answered. "You will have to come back later."

"Is there anyone else I can speak to? It is urgent." The man asked, trying to look over the slave's shoulder into the house.

"Wait here." The slave told him, closing the door again. After a short while he opened it again. "Master's daughter will receive you."

The man followed him inside into the lounge where a young woman was waiting for him. The moment she saw him her eyes filled with fury.

"How dare you come here?" She shot up from the lounge she was sitting on. White wings burst from her back, filling the room with a shower of white feathers. "Leave." She ordered the slave, who was quick to obey.

The man fell to his knees, pressing his forehead against the ground. "I beg your forgiveness."

"My forgiveness?" She snarled. "Apollo, are you truly such a fool? How dare you expect that you deserve my forgiveness after what you have done?"

"Please, I beg you." Apollo whispered.

"Silence!" Eirene screamed, her voice making the house tremble. "You insulted me, which I might forgive since you simply did not know. But I shall never forgive you your insults to my mother or father! It is because of you that my mother suffered so over the years and now lies wounded by Zeus' thunderbolt! How dare you enter this house and expect my forgiveness?"

"I had to do something." He whispered, not daring to look up at her. "These wars are destroying humanity."

Eirene snorted. "Do not pretend you care for humanity, Apollo. The myths are true: the gods only care for themselves. You only want humanity to be safe so they continue making sacrifices to you."

He flinched as she threw the amphora on the table down in front of him, showering him in wine and broken pottery.


	15. Chapter 15

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 15**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Andronicia was no fool. Athena did not birth fools. She knew who was with her sister. Apollo had come down from Olympus. She was not worried though: Eros' arrow had buried itself deep in his heart. He would never threaten Eirene.

Still she now abandoned her newest hunting-ground of Thebes, flying to where she knew her father was. He was far more reckless than his daughter, killing in the temples of Zeus across Greece. Right now she traced his powers to Olympia where the Olympic Games were held every four years.

"Father." She flew over several corpses. Being a priest of Zeus was a very lethal job these days.

"Yes?" He was a mere skeleton, long dark-red robes covering the greater part of his body.

"Eirene has a visitor." She told him, her own blood-red robes hugging her form. Her silver eyes looked into his empty eye-sockets. "Apollo has come down from Olympus."

"Has he?" Her father's skull looked towards the city where one of his daughters was watching over his wife. His other daughter looked at him with lidded eyes, trying to decipher the shifting shadows that held her father's bones together.

"Will you not interfere?" She asked, hair as black as the deepest night shifting as she turned away from him, looking out over the corpses of his rage.

"Sometimes, the wisest thing to do is to let others handle things." He said softly, before looking through the temple. Skin returned to his frame as he counted the mortals he had killed.

"As you wish." She answered, nudging one of the priests with her foot. "Father?"

He did not answer, merely turning to look at her.

"Does it ever bother you?" She asked, gesturing around them. "All this killing, I mean."

"In the beginning it certainly did." He said, flesh slowly covering the bleak white of his bones. "You can't help but think about how lives would have gone had you not taken a person's soul into the Underworld. Is it bothering you?"

"There are children. Innocents…" She admitted. "Their only crime being at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Such is the way of the Gods." Thanatos reached out, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. Few could discern the emotion hidden in his silver eyes, but those that did say concern there. "It is the price of power, of eternity. You cannot get attached to mortals. You must see them as lovable animals, otherwise the constant Death will drive you insane."

"That is all they are…" Andronicia frowned. "Animals who can entertain us."

"Mortals covet eternity, and the Gods curse it." Thanatos whispered. "I am afraid that is a lesson we all had to learn."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Apollo had left her, as Eirene demanded. He had not left the building however, instead reappearing in the guest-room where his sister lay. He knew it would only be a matter of time before someone noticed. He just prayed that someone would not be Thanatos.

He looked her over, seeing the damage their father had done. He shuddered as he admitted to himself that it was his fault that it had come this far.

The soft light of his inner power illuminated the room, throwing shadows on the stone walls. Beneath his slender fingers the wound started to close, scars fading to be replaced by flawless skin.

His hands dropped onto his knees where he was kneeling in front of the bed. Around his sun-kissed form black feathers dropped to the ground. He did not turn, instead letting his head fall forward, hiding behind his golden locks.

"I should be upset you are here." It had been Thanatos who had noticed he had not left. "I should destroy you for touching my wife."

"I merely sought to heal her." Apollo whispered, looking at his sister's unconscious face.

"Which is the only reason I am not breaking your bones right now." Thanatos gripped his shoulder, pulling him up to face the Deity of Death.

They were equal in height, but there their similarities ended. "You hurt her." Thanatos stated.

"I know." Apollo admitted.

"Then you also know you have my ill-will." His brother-in-law demanded. "My hate even."

"Yes." The God of Music whispered.

"Then leave. The gesture is appreciated, but you are still far from forgiveness." Thanatos' silver eyes looked upon the God in front of him with no emotion.

"Then I will take my leave." Apollo did not look up, his voice a meek whisper. He wanted to say something else, but thought better of it. He disappeared, leaving nothing of his presence safe a soft hint of sad music.

"Eirene!" Thanatos called, not moving from where he was standing.

"Yes, father?" She opened the door, her wings filling the corridor behind her.

"Bring peace…" Her sire whispered. "And retrieve your sister."


	16. Chapter 16

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 16**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The wars fizzled out as Eirene returned the peace and reigned in Ares. Andronicia flew out over the bloodied fields, collecting those that held no more hope for survival.

The Wrath of the daughters of Thanatos was appeased, but the rift between them and their family was not. Athena woke several hours after Apollo had visited her, but she did not return to Olympus. She and her husband took up residency in the great temple of Athena Thanateia in Athens, their daughters following them. Ares spend much of his time with them, refusing to return to Olympus too.

Olympus had been torn apart by the pride of several of the resident Gods and it might take millennia to fix.

But Eirene had a similar way of showing her grief like her father. It was not a year later that her magnificent wings were ruined, the white feathers littering the ground of the temple.

It did not take her family long to figure out what had happened: Eros had also shot her, leaving her pining for Apollo.

Thanatos was furious at this and he might have attacked the son of Aphrodite had his wife and her brother not calmed him. Eros had not done it out of ill-will towards Eirene, but out of hate towards Apollo. While unbelievably stupid, it would not warrant such measures. It was more important to fix this in some way.

At that Thanatos grew even more furious, nearly obliterating the temple in the wake of his anger. His tirade was heard all the way to Olympus, where each word was a blow against Apollo, who was equally pining for the young daughter of Athena.

"Please, my love." Athena pleaded. "Must our daughter be punished for the crimes of Olympus? She'll fade, much like Echo did."

"I will not reward Apollo for his conduct towards us." Thanatos glared at her. "I will not give him the daughter he proclaimed unwelcome at Olympus. Your daughter, Athena, our child."

"Do not for one moment think I mean HIM well." Athena stated, frowning. "I am only advocating this because of MY child, Thanatos, your daughter. I will refuse to watch her fade."

"Perhaps…" Ares piped up. "Perhaps it might be best to ask Eirene what she wishes? She has refused to see him ever since that day, no matter how often he seeks her out, despite her pain."

Athena looked at him oddly. "Since when are you this wise?"

"Since I have your favor, sister." Ares chuckled. "Let her choose, I say. She is a daughter of Athena, and Athena births no fools."

Thanatos was silent then, as silent as the corpses he left in his wake. "Very well." He relented. "But if she chooses him, it will be a long time until they have my blessing." His silver eyes flashed in anger. "I do not like Apollo."

"Neither do I." Athena nodded. "He has betrayed me too gravely. But for Eirene's sake we must at least accept him."

"If it is her wish." Thanatos stated, fading into the shadows.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was her wish. Eirene needed Apollo like mortals needed the air to breathe. Apollo humbly accepted her wishes, but he felt the burning gazes of her parents in the back of his head. He struggled to gain their approval, but it was hard. Thanatos hated him with his entire being and Athena was too hurt by his betrayal to make a difference.

At least both of them returned to the regular meetings of the Council, if only reluctantly.

A few months later Ares officially asked for the right to marry Andronicia, which was given gladly. Athena herself wove and created the dress of her daughter, while Thanatos ensured Ares had proper wear too. He contacted Hephaestus and had the Smith of the Gods make two wing-like frames for the War-God to wear.

"He marries a woman with wings, at least for his wedding he ought to have those too." He stated.

The frames were finished quickly, and Thanatos used what feathers he had lost during the last few years to cover them, making them indistinguishable from his own.

Andronicia insisted the wedding be held on Earth, since her adoptive parents could never attend it on Olympus. Ares agreed, suggesting the temple of Athena Thanateia. Athena disagreed, proposing the ceremony be held in his main temple in Sparta, since according to custom wed women are their husband's, not their mother's. Thanatos supported her, though not after threatening terrible retribution should Ares forget to honor the girl properly.

Andronicia was not entirely sure what her father had told Ares, but when he left the room he was decidedly pale and her father incredibly smug. Ares assured her she needn't worry, since it'd never come that far. She dropped the subject after that.

Very few Gods were invited, and those that were stayed in the background. Ares had had a field-day to convince Athena and Thanatos to at the least allow his parents to come. Thanatos spend the entire day with retracted wings, not wanting his anger to spoil his daughter's wedding by covering everything with feathers.


	17. Chapter 17

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 17**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Please…" Apollo gently turned Eirene at her shoulder. "You know I love you with all my heart, but I cannot ask you to be my wife when I feel so unworthy of you."

"That did not stop Ares." She countered, arms crossed in front of her chest. "He feels that my mother Athena is superior, but he still asked for my sister's hand."

"That was different." Apollo whispered. "And you know it. He stood by your mother and father, I was their greatest opponent. Even if I were to ask you, I would never gain their blessing. You deserve better."

"I deserve better?" The daughter of Athena demanded angrily, her silver eyes flashing. "Apollo, if I deserve better, why are we still having this discussion? If I deserve better, why are you still bothering?" Her voice rose in pitch. "Why are you still here if you think I deserve better?"

"Because I love you." He answered, grabbing her hand. "Because I know only peace when you are with me, even if I have done nothing to deserve your favor and everything to deserve your hate."

"Let me be the judge of that." She did not pull back her hand, instead letting it rest in his warm hands. "Athena births no fools. I can form my own opinions."

"Can you also change the opinion of your parents?" He looked over her shoulder up to where Athena's temple stood. "They will never accept me, Eirene; I have done them too much harm."

"And if you keep hiding from them that won't change." Eirene bit at him. "You flee to the other side of Greece the moment you feel them draw near. My mother surely would be willing to give you another chance if you just dared to ask for it."

"And your father would drag me into Tartarus if I even thought of asking." Apollo countered softly. "Please, can we speak of something else?"

Eirene relented, neither seeing the shadow that had been watching them. Cloaked in the darkness of Erebus, Thanatos and Athena had been following the exchange.

"I think a talk with Apollo is in order." Thanatos mused, watching as the two lovers walked to the Olympian archery-range.

"I feared something like this might happen." Athena said, her silver eyes locked on her brother's form.

"You mentioned that several times already." Her husband stated. "I will talk to him once he brings Eirene home this evening. Does that please you?"

The Goddess of Wisdom did not answer, but the look in her eyes spoke volumes. Thanatos took his leave, fading away into the shadows. His wife remained behind, but instead of remaining there, she walked up the mountain. The weather had been terrible these last few months and the mortals were starting to suffer under it. She had a feeling she knew what was wrong with her father.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Apollo escorted Eirene home later that evening, watching the moonlight play on the silver of her wings.

He was ripped from his thoughts when he noticed who was standing in front of Athena's temple, a black silhouette in the light of the moon.

"Father." Eirene greeted the figure. "Am I too late?"

"No." Thanatos' face was unreadable. "I would speak to Apollo. In private."

Apollo paled, but nodded. Eirene entered the temple, looking back one more time before closing the doors.

"What did you wish to speak with me about?" Apollo asked. Thanatos did not answer immediately, instead leading him away from to temple to one of the many gardens dotting the lower levels of the mountain.

"I was watching you and Eirene today." The personification of death said after they had taken a seat on one of the marble benches. "I admit myself concerned."

"I have done nothing to dishonor her." Apollo quickly defended himself.

"I know. But you are breaking her heart anew." Thanatos stated softly. "Why do you not ask for her hand, which is – if I am to believe the words of both of you – what both of you desire?"

"I am hardly worthy of that." Apollo looked away. "Besides, you would never give us your blessing…"

"And why is that?" Thanatos asked. "I love my daughter dearly and I would cast myself into Tartarus before having her suffer. And I am watching her suffer right now because you once again can't get your act together. Believe me, Apollo, if you had not already earned some form of my blessing in regards to your relationship with my daughter, you would not have been able to get near her."

Apollo opened his mouth to speak, but Thanatos send him a glare that would have been enough to kill mortals. "Let me finish. Athena has much power over me, as do Eirene and Andronicia, but when I am against something fully, none of them can sway me. Yes, I would have preferred had she chosen someone who was less of an asshole, but there were worse choices she could have made."

Thanatos pointed at the far-away temple. "Know this: I shall not oppose your union. I will even give you my blessing, but you will have to be Eros to her Psyche, for if you are anything less, I will end you."


	18. Chapter 18

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 18**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You presume too much, brother." Athena told Apollo. "Yes, I and Thanatos are willing to give you a chance, but there are those that won't. Unless you convince them, you shall never be able to wed Eirene."

"Who?" He almost immediately demanded. "Please, sister, tell me who."

"Her other parents." Her silver eyes narrowed in pain and anger. "Rhoda and Leander too must approve. You angered and wronged them just as much as me. They were the sanctuary of the Twins, they had to hear their grief and they had to stand helpless. For though chosen by the Heir of Olympus to raise her children, they are mortals. Powerless and weak mortals, whose only strength and protection against the wrath of the gods lies in the bonds of love with my daughters. Eirene and Andronicia might be children of me and Thanatos, but they are weak both in power and in influence."

She pointed over to where Ares' mighty temple rose in the distance. "Andronicia has found power behind Ares and Eirene will find power behind you. But on their own, they stand no chance against even one Olympian. Rhoda and Leander know this and yet they are only bringing sacrifices to me, Ares and Thanatos. They ignore our father Zeus, our step-mother Hera and all others out of sheer spite. They do this solely because they would rather die than honor someone who hurt their little girls. You know this as much as I. The other Gods do so too. And you must know that if they refuse you Eirene's hand, you will not receive it, neither by threat of force or bribery. She will bow to their will, because in the end, those weak humans are the ones who have the ultimate power over her."

Apollo looked away from Athena, down to the mortal world. Even from Olympus, his immortal eyes could not see the small city hidden behind the mountains of Greece.

His sister stood beside him, her brown locks tumbling down around her face and dancing in the soft breeze. Her grey eyes measured his every move, reading his mind by the subtle shifts in expression.

"Waiting here will not increase your chances." Her voice cut through his thoughts. "Go down there, and face the wrath of the mortals." She turned to leave, her long toga swirling around her feet. The few pieces of jewelry she wore tingled as she moved. "And remember: Eirene and Andronicia are weak, but their parents are not. Do not make me your enemy once more, Apollo, for I fear you shall never recover from that."

She walked up the wide street, the setting sun casting her shadow far over the marble stones. She left her brother standing at the edge of one of the massive balconies, looking out over the mortal world.

Apollo was afraid. He had never met the mortals he would have to face, but the sheer guts they had in ignoring virtually each and every altar spoke volumes. They would not fear him and bow to his wishes because he was a God and they weren't. They knew he would never threaten them: Athena had spoken the truth when she said that while the Twins were weak, their parents were not. He would never be able to do anything to the mortals without Athena and Thanatos knowing immediately and tearing him to pieces seconds afterwards.

He closed his eyes, hugging himself with his sun-kissed arms.

"I believe the saying goes 'tomorrow never comes'." A deep voice behind him spoke. Blood-red eyes met his sky-blue ones evenly.

"There is always a tomorrow." He countered, breaking the eye-contact with his brother.

"Hiding here will not bring you Eirene closer." Ares pointed out. "She will not dishonor her parents – mortal or divine – by going into a relationship without their blessing."

"I know that." Apollo ground out. "But how can I face them?"

"By going down there and knocking on their door?" Ares suggested. "Look, the longer you wait, the likelier they are to turn you down because you are taking so long. Just go and get it behind you."

"I… I can't." Apollo whispered. "I just can't."

"You are a god, for Chaos' sake." Ares groaned. "Look, I might have gotten smarter thanks to the good relationship with Athena I have now, but I am still a nightmare with words so I'll be blunt: you cannot hide from this. Either you get your divine ass down there or you will never get Eirene. In fact, I think she will never forgive you should you chicken out now. Fear does not suit you."

"Yet fear is all I feel." The twin-brother of Artemis bit his lips. "I dare not face them. What if they reject me? It is not as if it would be unfounded."

"That you'll only know if you ask." Ares' more muscular arm came to rest around the lithe form of his brother. "They are blessed by Athena. I think you know what that means: they will choose wisely."

"And what if that wisest choice is rejection?" The younger brother looked up at the taller male, looking more helpless and alone than any god ever should.

"Then you shall find a shoulder to cry on, I am certain." Ares pointed to where the city rested at the foot of a mountain. "Go, Apollo, or stay, I do not care. But if you stay, you will lose Eirene. I am certain you know that too."


	19. Chapter 19

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 19**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Apollo walked through the small city, weaving through the mortals going about their business. He looked up at the house he stood in front of.

'Come on, Apollo, you faced the Titan-army. You shouldn't be this afraid of two mortals.' He thought as he raised his hand to knock. If only it was that easy.

He hit the wood several times, the sound echoing in his ears. A slave opened, the same that had greeted him the first time. This time the young man did not ask questions, merely opened the door wide enough for him to enter.

"Apollo has arrived." He said when entering the main chambers.

"Take young Anthea." The man standing at the table ordered. The slave bowed, taking the young daughter of his master by the hand and led her out the room.

"You took longer than we expected." Rhoda rose from where she had been playing with her child. "You got Athena's and Thanatos' blessing yesterday at midday, yet it took you almost a day to get here."

"I… I was afraid." Apollo whispered.

"With good reason." Leander gestured to one of the chairs standing around a small table. Then he called for a slave to bring some refreshments. "You no doubt know of our recent conduct towards the Gods?"

"It is hard to miss." Apollo watched as the slave brought an amphora of wine, a small Krater for mixing the wine with water and several goblets, setting them on the table. Rhoda dismissed him, taking the amphora herself to prepare the wine.

"Then you also realize you will not be able to force our approval?" Leander sat down opposite of him, his own golden hair mixed with several silver streaks, but his eyes still as fierce as those of the lion he was named after.

"Yes." Apollo nodded, muttering a soft thanks when Rhoda handed him a goblet.

"Then I will be blunt and truthful with you, Apollo." Leander stated, nodding briefly when his wife handed him his goblet. "I think as a God of Truth you might appreciate the gesture. I do not like you, in fact I hate you. I saw the grief of the Twins and though they are not my own, I love them as if they were. I had to dry their tears where their true parents could not, I had to see them weep in my wife's lap almost once a month. Again and again the one who grieved them was YOU. The only reason you are even welcome in my house right now is because Eirene holds you so dear."

Leander had spoken softly and calmly, but his words cut into Apollo as if they were blades forged from the purest adamantine. The God looked away, struggling to compose himself.

"I understand." He whispered again. Somehow he was not able to speak any louder. His vocal chords would not cooperate.

"But…" It was Rhoda who broke the ensuing silence. "Eirene loves you. That alone keeps us from outright turning you down. But you must learn humility before we accept you."

Rhoda was a woman from Spartan descend and that showed in her way of life. No other woman would have spoken so bluntly and so directly to the God in front of her.

Apollo swallowed in discomfort when he realized that Leander would not be the main problem, but Rhoda would be. He saw Athena reflected in her eyes, the woman meant to serve the Goddess carrying much of said Goddess in her.

"Tell me what to do." He stated, meeting her gaze evenly.

"Because of your doing Eirene and Andronicia had to grow up with the mindset of a mortal." Leander stated, setting his goblet on the small table. "And they will live for many years with that mindset. It will bring them pain and suffering. Ares knows that, since he knows how fleeting a mortal live can be. But you do not: you do not _care _for the mortals like they do."

Apollo remained silent, unsure of what to say.

"If you want our approval, you must learn this." Rhoda continued her husband's tale. "Learn the fleetingness of life and everything in it save the Gods and so she wishes it, Eirene shall be yours. Fail to learn this pain and you will know the pain of a shattered heart, because Eirene shall never be yours."

"So I must choose between one pain or another?" Apollo asked.

"Yes." The answer was blunt and direct.

"Then it shall be as you wish." Apollo just hoped he'd find out how to do that. He'd have to ask Athena once he returned to Olympus.


	20. Chapter 20

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 20**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Watch them die." Athena told him. "Go somewhere where they die, and stay there. And listen to their pleas, look at their families and see what they leave behind."

"Where is that?" Apollo asked her. He had gone to her the moment he returned to Olympus, asking for her advice in fulfilling the demands of the mortal parents of his chosen.

"Thebes." His sister answered after a while. "After the wars, the Plague spread over the battlefields with the rotting corpses of fallen soldiers and has now reached the city. It is raging within and many will be killed by it. Go there, as a mortal, and watch the disease spread and recede. An older son of Leander and Rhoda lives there. Go to him and have him take you in."

"As you wish." Apollo bowed before walking out of her temple, leaving the Goddess to her thoughts. He did not see her fade from view, disappearing from the grand mountain they called home. Instead he descended to the mortal world, approaching Thebes. As he approached the city he looked upon the surrounding lands in horror. There were no crops on the fields, despite it being in the middle of the season. Instead there were mounds of corpses. Crows were picking at them, looking up as he passed by. Some flew up from where they were sitting, but many just followed him with their black eyes.

The gates were firmly closed, allowing no one in or out. The God looked up at them, before simply willing himself inside. Disguised as an old man, he walked through the streets nearly devoid of live.

It took him a while to find the house of the son of Leander. He knocked, hearing the sound echo through the house. He did not expect what he saw once the door opened. The man looked like Leander, only younger.

"Who are you, stranger?" He demanded. "Do you not see that it is not safe in this city?"

"I am a traveler." Apollo answered. "And I see the state of the city. Would you send me into it?"

"A god needs not fear the disease plaguing us." The man said, opening the doors. "My sister's mother warned me of your coming."

"It seems knowledge of me precedes me these days." Apollo whispered, slipping into the gloom of the hallway.

"Not only you yourself, but also your deeds." The slave locked the door securely as his master talked to the new arrival. "I shall honor my parents' wishes and teach you the fleetingness of life."

Apollo could only nod, seeing Leander reflected in the man's eyes. It seems this family did not fear the Gods, only respected them. The unyielding spirit of the Spartans was clearly visible in their countenances, even in Leander, who had not come from that city, but from the city he still lived in, which had been under the influence of Athens for many years.

"May I know your name?" He in the end asked.

"Chrysostomos." Leander's son introduced himself. "I am the second son."

"'With a golden tongue'?" Apollo translated the name. "How come you bear that name?"

"I was born with the name of Eleftherios, but after finding my skill with words I took on that name." Chrysostomos explained. "Friends shorten it to Chrysos, but do not presume you have that right."

Apollo frowned, feeling the desire to put this mortal in his place well up inside him. But he knew Athena would never forgive him, not to mention Eirene and so he swallowed his pride and anger.

"Let me show you your room." Chrysostomos told him. "As of yet, this house has not yet been reached by the illness, but I cannot say the same of most of the other houses in the city."

"Why do you not leave?" Apollo asked softly.

"Where to?" The mortal counter-asked. "That we show no symptoms does not mean we do not carry the disease already. No one should risk another's life like that."

"There is truth in that." The God agreed.

"Also, I have something for you." The brother of Eirene said, snipping his fingers. One of the slaves appeared with a scroll. "Lady Athena left this for you."

Apollo took the scroll, but only opened it when he was in the privacy of the room he had been given. At least this man still honored Zeus and his sacred hospitality, the God of Music mused.

He opened the scroll, seeing his sister's fine script fill the better part of the page.

"When did you find time to write this?" He softly asked his absent sibling. "I did not take that long to get here, did I?"

The message in the letter was simple: she would be watching him and ensuring he'd get the message. She'd also ensure he would not use his powers for anything save cloaking his form. She would not allow him to heal anyone he might encounter, nor would she allow him to hinder her husband at performing his duty of collecting the dead. If he tried to do so, she would interfere and ensure the consequences would not be pretty. He did not doubt that statement one bit.

He rolled the scroll up again, laying it on the small table in one corner of the chamber.


	21. Chapter 21

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 21**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Half the city was dead by the end of the plague. Apollo had stayed until the very end of it, suffering along with the survivors. Eirene's brother took him out to help care for those without hope as a surefire way to get the message across.

And across it got: Apollo was the only one who could see Thanatos and the only one who could tell who was doomed and who was not.

The first time he truly felt grief was when he saw Thanatos approach a small family. The mother, father and the two oldest of the 4 children had fallen ill. Death claimed his victims quickly… There were now four new orphans in the city, the parents doomed while the children were meant to survive. Only the two eldest, both ill, truly comprehended what happened. The two others, one still in diapers, did not. The pleas of the older of the two youngest for his parents to wake up broke the God's heart.

Another instance that he would not soon forget was when a fire started in one of the more well-off parts of the city. That day too the God of Death met the God of Music. At first Apollo thought little of it, until he heard what had truly happened: the only child of the family had fallen ill and in a fit of madness send perhaps as punishment by Dionysus for the father's disregard of wine – at least, that was the rumor circulating mere hours after it happened – the mother had burned down the house with the family still inside so her little one did not have to face the Judges of the Underworld alone. The family perished in the flames, as did several of their neighbors who could not escape their own homes in time.

Thanatos hardly left the once proud city and Apollo saw his black shadow fall over the houses more than once a day. Fires would break out and the dead accumulated outside the city. Bodies remained unburied, only the most basic and necessary rites being done since there was such an amount of dead each day even the priests could hardly keep up.

But all that was nothing compared to when Apollo encountered Andronicia for the first time while she performed her duties. While her main duty was to collect those that died in wars and battles, she would collect all that died a violent dead during the reign of her sister, Peace.

He had gone to the market, seeking a bit of refuge from the dead he had seen. It was not to be: as he arrived there he was greeted with the buzzing of wings over the soft sounds of the people going about their lives among the despair. His blue eyes immediately locked on the only divine being around beside himself.

She wore the ceremonial armor Ares had given her, which looked much like the armor her father had worn in the Second Titanomachy. She stood on one of the buildings, her wings still buzzing in the aftermath of her flight from Olympus.

He feared what her presence might mean. He soon found out: a group of straggling mercenaries had chosen the weakened city as an appropriate target. The God felt no fear, at least not for himself. But with a shock he saw four children begging at the street-corner. They were the children whose parents he had seen die by the disease. And it seemed the mercenaries would have no mercy for a poor group of children.

He looked up in horror at his niece and future sister-in-law. His heart stopped when she nodded. It took him only a second to realize something: while it could cost him Eirene by going against Athena's wishes and even if it would be more merciful to let them die, he could not let those children be claimed by Andronicia.

He blocked the path of the mercenaries, his power flowing from him. The golden bow in his hands burned in the light of Helios' sun. His wrath was swift and unrelenting and his beauty tarnished by his fury. His voice echoed back from the faraway city-walls and his arrows flew faster than the eye could see.

Andronicia claimed only the mercenaries that day. Apollo watched her go, his sky-blue eyes reflecting her winged form descending into Hades itself.

The children were looking at him with wide eyes. He turned to them, measuring them. With a wave of his hand, they disappeared from the city along with him. All five appeared in a temple of one of his oracles; Abae in Phocis.

The priests who had survived the rage of Thanatos and Andronicia a few years prior greeted him with deep bows.

"Take these children, raise them as priests and attendants." Apollo stated, gesturing at the four. "The babe shall be the next Oracle of this temple." He accepted no argument and left soon thereafter.

When he appeared in the room he had been given, he was met with the angry eyes of his sister. Athena had heard from her daughter what he had done and she was not amused at his blatant disregard for the rules she had set him.


	22. Chapter 22

**Category:** **Greek Mythology**

**Rating:** **M**

**Couples: ****Athena/Thanatos, Ares/OC, Apollo/OC **

**Warnings:** **AU, Blood (read: war), hints of Lemon**

**Chapter:**** 22**

**Copyright:** **Characters & places © By Whoever owns Greek Mythology, Plot & OC´s © by me**

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"That was not part of our agreement, brother." Athena stated, her silver eyes glowing in the half-dark of the room. "You were not to interfere."

"I was not to interfere with Thanatos' duties." Apollo countered, looking away from his sister. "And I did not."

"You know full well that I meant Andronicia's as well." Athena glared at him, her arms crossed.

"You did not specify that." He defended himself weakly.

"That does not change anything." She stepped up to him and despite him being a head taller, seemed to tower over him. "But you are lucky."

"What?" He looked at her, surprised.

"You have the blessing of Rhoda and Leander." Athena smiled. "They contacted us yesterday."

His smile lit up the room. "They did?"

Athena chuckled. "They most assuredly did. Eirene shall be yours, if she so wishes."

The song of Apollo's joy echoed over the world as he shot to Olympus. He knew the answer of the daughter of Athena and he could not wait to hear her say it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Thanatos and Leander granted the couples' wish, allowing Apollo to wed young Eirene. Sadly, so much time had passed that Leander passed away mere hours after she was wed. He had grown old and Thanatos had postponed the claiming as long as he could. Eirene and Andronicia both were devastated at this and Andronicia was reminded of something her father had told her during their rage: 'Such is the way of the Gods. It is the price of power, of eternity. You cannot get attached to mortals. You must see them as lovable animals, otherwise the constant Death will drive you insane. Mortals covet eternity, and the Gods curse it. I am afraid that is a lesson we all had to learn.'

It was a lesson the twins had to learn now, before the time of the rest of their mortal family ran out too…

But in Peace and War one does not get used to the dead. One can only endure. As the mortals fall, the gods turn their eyes away. Not out of cruelty or indifference, but because they have to. If they do not, they go mad. And madness is nothing one would have to suffer for even a day, let alone an eternity. As they aged, the Twins learned to do this too, but there were times when they could not. And had people believed in them and their family still, they would have heard the sounds of grief of Eirene, Goddess of Peace, who saw herself violated and of Andronicia, Goddess of the Fallen, who scoured the lands where her sister was no longer welcome. For the Twins had been mortal, in a way, and once mortal, you stay mortal.

And the mortals did not hear their cries, for they had become deaf…


End file.
